Wednesday, February 07, 2007

A New Acquisition

Last night, I narrowed the field considerably. For about the last dozen years, I've owned, and still own for that matter, a number of .380, .32 and 9mm pistols. Recently, I've taken a liking to large frame/caliber revolvers and do have some but I've just had this itch for something in .45 ACP, and in a 1911 platform.

The reasons are plenty. Having shot DA 9's for so long you'd think I'd have gotten use to the traditional triggers of such and the disproportionately long travel and reset on these things, but I must admit to being aggravated by not being able to do quick transitions and doubles on targets. They just aren't setup to shoot quickly with pin-point accuracy. Most of this, I have come to the conclusion, is because of the levered trigger, typical to almost all DA's. The lockwork is just not setup for precise, short, coordinated movement at the fingertips. Precisely squeezing, using the whole forearm and fist wrapped around the damned Europellet-dispensing, double stack, double-action grip is too much to ask of my physiology when acquiring and neutralizing multiple moving targets. Call me slow on the uptake, but I think I've finally figured it out, I've always loved the ergonomics of the 1911, and I finally did something about that. Besides, having nothing in an autoloader in something bigger than 9mm had me questioning my patriotism, the .45 ACP is the benchmark from which all others shall be judged, right?

Meet my Springfield Armory Mil-Spec™.

The frame is marked as being manufactured by IMBEL of Brazil, for Springfield and their site confirms that the slide is as well. No bother, as I have full confidence in both IMBEL, who have a long history of making various firearms, and Springfield's quality. Good forgings, a parkerized finish and few frills was exactly what I was wanting in a basic 1911, and this is precisely what they deliver.

Its high spots, besides the obvious benefits of the .45/1911 platform, being the sights are a step up from the GI type, the mag well has a slight bevel and the ejection port is lowered and flared for better reliability (less stove-piping on ejection).

The negatives are the sights aren't Novak, the trigger, while crisp and fairly light, could still use some work, the slide release, being the "issue" type, is far too short (extended unit will need to be fitted in the future) and the thumb safety paddle is too small and requires a little too much force to disengage said safety. All of these items can be easily addressed with the flood of aftermarket parts available for it, so picking one that I like is really the only hard part. Suggestions of parts and manufacturers welcome.

Part II to follow with a range test, hopefully in the not too distant future.

The sights look good to me, especially compared to the ones on my gun - I have pretty big hands (she said) but have never had hammer-bite. Don't make it a deadline thing, it's your own ship to sail, when and where you please.

The deadline thing is not in regards to the live-fire session, but attributed to the 9 to 5 drag that is really more like a 7 to 7 drag.

Don't ever let the title fool you, being an architect is NOT all that it seems to be. I can't stress this enough to those who have either been in awe of what I do or talking to those who think they want to become one. Don't even think about it. Turn and run, don't walk, away from it as a profession. I can describe it only thusly, modern day prostitution, but without any of the money.

Lots to do otherwise it seems. The paternal unit wants to see hot rods in the cavernous convention center downtown tomorrow and the spouse wants dinner and a night out on the town tonight. Combining that with work, and I've got a full weekend.

I have no excuse except I hate any kind of rush-job or deadline pressure and decided never to have to wortk that way again. Being unemployed I'm not sure if that's an advertisement or a caution. A close friend of the family was an architect and one of my dorm-mates in college went that route - I lack the math skillz, totally, and I would also warn against the obvious and psychic-damaging futility of becoming an Anthropologist since it's an animal that only thrives in the Academic Kingdom of Leftistan.

I have more than a passing idea about what you are talking about there, Dirt.

Architecture is taught at the university level much in the same way as any other subject. It too is caught in that web. I deal with the Arteeest everyday it seems, and have to do another's bidding, because they don't know how. It's a snap of the fingers and it should pop out like magic, you see.